Game, fish body needs a man with two hats

Thursday

Jan 13, 2005 at 1:54 PM

The issue: New Wildlife and Fisheries Commission chairman.

We suggest: Commercial-recreation unity will serve all sides.

Louisiana's new chairman of the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission has high hopes of getting that oversight body's oars all in the water working together for a change. That would be to the great benefit of recreational and commercial interests alike.

Wayne Sagrera of Abbeville has served on the commission since 2002 and witnessed the clashes as commercial and recreational fishermen and hunting interests argue over how to manage the harvest of our wildlife and fishing resources. It's been a constant battle to set limits at which commercial interests believe they can make a living wage but which recreational interests think is not depleting the resources. And, oh yeah, both side think the other is taking too much game and fish while neither interest group believes it gets enough.

This conflict has been ongoing for decades. In the 1980s when the redfish population plummeted and the commercial harvest was halted, death threats were made. Louisianians have strong feeling about their great outdoors.

But Sagrera comes onto center stage of the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission with the stated intent of being a member of both camps. And it appears that he is pulling off this difficult mission. Actually, Sagrera is a member of both groups: He is a self-employed alligator dealer, and he is a recreational fisher and hunter.

"I wear both hats," Sagrera said after he was named chairman last week. "I'm a commercial appointment (by Gov. Mike Foster), but I also go out and hunt and fish. As chairman, I will serve both commercial and recreational interests."

As a bridging figure, Sagrera has the rare opportunity to create unity where little has existed, and that would be a large service to everyone involved. It's not in the best interest of the state's game and fish populations to be in the middle of a policy battle. Those natural resources will benefit from a steady policy position whose goals on exploiting those resources do not change significantly each year.

Sagrera is setting goals of establishing hunting seasons three to five years ahead of time rather than yearly so that hunters can have clear expectations and can make longer-term plans. For commercial fishermen, he is focusing on the ongoing trade actions that shrimpers have recently won and which crabbers are beginning to seek against low-cost foreign importers who want to gain a share of the U.S. seafood market. "We need to figure out something. We just can't compete" with foreign prices, Sagrera said.

Commercial fishermen report that they are pleased with the composition of the commission for the first time in years. They felt that Gov. Foster had not fulfilled an obligation to have three commercial representatives on the seven-person panel.

Jeff Angers, executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana, the state's largest recreational sportsman lobby, told The Courier his group fully supports the current commission and its goals. "We're very pleased, really right down to the last man," he said

That's progress.

It's encouraging to see people on both sides say that we have the greatest opportunity in many years to forge greater unity between commercial and recreational fishermen. Gov. Kathleen Blanco deserves appreciation for following through on a promise to correct the imbalance of representation on the board to add commercial representation.